The State of Political Islam through the Prism of Egyptian Brotherhood and Hezbollah - Coursework Example

Political Islam When the Arab Spring came as a wave sweeping the entire North Africa and Middle East, it was apparentto the world that change was on the way. The prospects of political Islam were seen to have taken a new twist where the citizenry rose in a revolution against their governments. The wave of revolution came at a time when the Arab world could be seen to have been sufficiently enlightened through education to look beyond the veil of religion to discern good from bad. Tunisia and Egypt were the forerunners of the revolution and waves of resistance that have characterized the Arab world. In 2012, the world was quickly waking up to the reality that democratization in the region was facing a new challenge. This paper shall analyze the state of political Islam through the prism of Egyptian Brotherhood and Hezbollah as the representative of the wave of change that has characterized Muslim states in North Africa and Middle East (Schwartz 1). It will also allude to events in other Muslim states that have also seen a wave of revolution in pursuit for a working model of democracy. The State of Egyptian Brotherhood Prior to the 2011 Revolution When Hosni Mubarak ascended to power nearly, he had promised the Egyptian people that he would be with them under all circumstances. He was coming to power shortly after the conflict between Arab world and Israel in 1967. At the end of the six day war in which Egypt and other Arab forces lost, his predecessor Gama Abdel Nassir had signed a peace truce in which Egypt was to recognize Israel’s right to exist. Anwar Sadat later followed the same model until his assassination (Miller 89). In return, the US had promised military aid and other forms of assistance probably to deter any conflict that would have arisen within the Islamic states. Therefore, by the time Hosni Mubarak ascended into leadership, he found a system that was slowly being modeled on western democracy. There were elections and other forms of governance that characterize freedom and human right observation. All throughout his reign, Hosni Mubarak did not completely destroy the Muslim Brotherhood, a predominantly Sunni creed group. Being an outlawed body, Muslim Brotherhood operated underground for as long as it was banned. The Muslim Brotherhood continued to operate underground. It went on to recruit militias, seek funding and infiltrate its member into the various arms of the government (Nawara and Feyzi 1). Therefore, by the time the revolution was coming up, Muslim Brotherhood was better placed to rally support from within the government and the civilian populations (Miller 86). In order to understand the process of democratization in Egypt and factors that led to the rise of Muslim Brotherhood, it is imperative that one analyzes the state of the country prior to the 25th revolution. The political history of Egypt prior to the revolution is such that it has political representation and recognized civil movements. The country was never governed as a police state as has been witnessed in the recent times. To the outsides world, Egypt has use the Israel question to divert attention from internal processes that required change. There was democratization process and civil movements, but there was very little room for change and expansion. Democratization process can be seen to have suffered quietly under the peace accord with Israel whereas internally, the political process was in need of change. As far as the political process is concerned, it is important to note that the military class had dominated the political arena for a long time. From 1952 to 2011 when Hosni Mubarak was toppled, Egypt had been ruled for nearly 60 years by personalities who came from the military class. Therefore, one can say that political process in the country has been dominated by the military. Probably that was the argument that the Muslim Brotherhood used to appeal to the masses despite the fact that the country’s democracy had features of western model of democracy (Miller 94). The fact that the military has influence on the executive branch, the strongest branch of government in the country, other arms of the government merely existed. That explains why a number of presidents did suspend parliament and dictate to the judiciary certain matters. The executive apparatus, therefore, acted as the supreme center of power in matters of governance. Scholars have observed that when in 2008 Mubarak appointed 28 governors, 20 of them had military background. Therefore, one may observe that as much as the president exercised his constitutional power, he was overly reserved in appointing civilians to positions of leadership. Such kind of authoritarianism, whether granted by the constitution, is a highway to political failure (Levitsky and Lucan 129). Besides, the political process in Egypt was hijacked by the Muslim brotherhood owing to the fact that the economic situation of the county was in a state of want. In fact, the demonstrators had chanted slogans for “bread, freedom and social justice.” By 2008, the GDP was already receding such that the subsidized bread could not be afforded. Up to 80% of Egyptian relied on the subsidized bread, which was the staple food. Any revolution that also has aspects of food connected to it, like the French revolution, means the very survival of the people. It was such factors that made the Muslim Brotherhood have a sure ground for support. However, a deeper dissection would reveal that the problem had more to do with poor governance than with the Muslim Brotherhood. An analysis of the nature of other Islamic states that also have revolutions would help understand the governance was seen as responsible for the Arab Spring that continues to redefine political Islam through the prism of western expansionism. Since then, there revolution has taken a Sunni and Shia approach though silently. Failure in Governance in the Face of Rising Discontentment for Limited Freedom Space Taking the case of Libya in the wake of Arab Spring, the country serves to exemplify that although Western Expansionism had very little to do with the revolution, it inspired the need for the struggle. Many Libyans, just like many Arab citizens, had been enlightened through education on matters of freedom of expression, human rights, free media and representative democracy. Many were also conscious about the concept of equity in resource distribution, transparency and accountability as far as governance was concerned. Therefore, they led the other Arab world in their quest for these aspects of a sound democracy and an end to political authoritarianism (Levitsky and Lucan 119). It was not going to be easy to keep a learned population caged when the world around them was free. Political Islam had reached a point where Sharia Law alone was not sufficient to be applied as the model for governance. It is vital to explain that whereas Sharia Law does not encourage disenfranchisement of the population, many leaders use specific clauses to perpetuate actions that lead to discontentment. The Sanusi Framework under which Libyan system of governance was based had weakness in the sense that it allowed corruption and failure to observe equity in the distribution of national wealth. Like in Iraq where the challenge of ISIL arose from Shia disenfranchisement of the Sunnis, Libyan system was such that it disenfranchised certain regions from power. Although Libya was a Sunni majority state and was being led by a Sunni leader, it was nonetheless overthrown (Khoury 1). Despite being predominantly Sunni like Egypt, the political process in Libya was in a state of need. Western values of democracy like equity played a key role in motivating the Arab Spring even without the interference of any western nation in the conflict. That explains that political Islam has been taking two shapes in their quest for democracy. In one shape, the current political Islam can be seen to be one that has curved itself above religious sects to seek a working formula where there is equity and real democracy. Otherwise there is no way Sunnis would rise in a revolution to overthrow a Sunni leadership government. On the other hand, the Political process in the Arab world and political Islam has also been necessitated by perceived discrimination based on faith. Al- Maliki’s government in Iraq is seen as having created the current chaos when it left out the minority Sunni’s from positions of leadership. Whichever way one may look at it, western expansionism has played passively in all the states that have witnessed revolution in the Arab Spring and its aftermath. May the most prominent political scenario that took place during the Muslim Brotherhood’s ascent to power was the attempt to realign with Hezbollah (Khoury 1). For a long time, Hezbollah, a predominantly Shia Muslim militia group, had operated as a terrorists group (Khoury 1). Whereas Muslim Brotherhood is predominantly Sunni, it was appalling how the two groups with completely different ideologies could merge. As political scientist struggled to grasp what such developments meant for political Islam in the region, one thing that remained clear was the fact that the political process being witnessed in the Arab world could not be adequately defined solely through the prism of sectarian alignment. From Libya to Egypt and Tunisia, the picture that comes out is that Arab democratization is slowly shaping itself along some principles of western democracy (Nawara and Feyzi 1). Save for Iraq where the ISIL problem is purely sectarian, the Arab Spring was founded on real issues, not sectarian differences (Khoury 1). In conclusion, one may observe that the prospects of all the above is that there is more and more clamor for political inclusion, equity in resource distribution and distribution of power. Many regimes have woken up to the fact that they cannot disenfranchise the population from power. Many regimes have learned the hard way while some have been spared the destructions witnessed in Libya and Iraq. Whichever way the wave of revolution ends, one thing that is for sure is that the Arab states are watching and noting. Many will have to readdress their approach to political Islam. The case of Egypt and Libya are may be just a precursor of what awaits Arab states that will offer little room for democracy while maintaining a skewed approach to distribution of resources. Works Cited Khoury, Jack. Saudi Arabia deems Muslim Brotherhood, Hezbollah terrorist groups. 2014. Web. Accessed from http://www.haaretz.com/news/middle-east/.premium-1.578531 Levitsky, Steven, and Lucan Way A. Competitive Authoritarianism: Hybrid Regimes After the Cold War. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2010. Print. Miller, Laurel E. et al. Democratization in the Arab World Prospects and Lessons from Around the Globe. Rand Corporation 2012. Print. Nawara, Wael and Feyzi Baban. The future of political Islam: lessons from Turkey, Egypt: Political Islam from protest to governing. 2014. Web. Accessed from http://www.al- monitor.com/pulse/originals/2014/01/islam-turkey-egypt-ideology-islamist-law.html# Schwartz, Sharona. Muslim Brotherhood Hearts Hezbollah? Egyptian Ambassador Invites Relations with Terrorist Group. 2012. Web. Accessed from http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2012/12/30/muslim-brotherhood-hearts-hezbollah- egyptian-ambassador-invites-relations-with-terrorist-group/ Read More